Alan & Bre catch up on Alan attending Tony Robbins’ seminar. On the last day there was a huge section pushing a non-meat diet. They discuss pushing agendas, since Tony Robbins is not a nutritionist, that seems irrelevant to the aim & content of the seminar. Then some breaths together to cool off. The reason for talking about hunting in conjunction with conservation is because of Tim Ferris’ instagram post that just flashed a sensationalized New York Times article condemning the recent wolf hunt in Wisconsin. They deconstruct some breakdowns in the post & news article. There are biologists who create quotas & regulations that are based on many factors- number & health of the packs, methods of hunting, success rates. The quota approach also means when the quota is met, the hunt is over. This leads them into the reintroduction of wolves in general- Yellowstone & Colorado. The reintroduced wolves are not native to the areas. Wolves are already making their way to Colorado & allowing them to do it on their own naturally will be a better transition than most reintroduction methods. Man is a tricky component of the ecosystem. Man gets involved & mess things up but things also go haywire when we don’t include man. A little talk about elk & predator overpopulation especially where man is not hunting, for example national parks. Nature follows the path of least resistance- predators will go for young, not the old bull who is no longer reproducing. This is a scenario where man is beneficial for the health of a herd. Hunters have an intimate relationship & understanding of the animals they hunt. Also how hunting season has “trained” animals, elk to private land or national parks, grizzlies hear a gunshot & know it’s dinner time. They talk a bit about the difference between black bears & grizzly bears. Alan shares about a close encounter with a black bear when he had a bear tag which ultimately turned into a funny story. They discuss some regulations on bear hunting, like that you cannot hunt a sow with cubs & hunting season ends when a specific number of females are hunted. There are taxes on ammo and weapons that all go to conservation, as well as licenses & tags. Hunters fund over 50% of conservation efforts & it is pretty obvious that hunters want to be able to hunt, so they don’t want animal populations to disappear. They can be the best conservationists. Alan gives insight into elk populations & why hunting helps keep the population healthy. There is some discussion about poachers & corruption within hunting, however to stop hunting as a whole will not help this problem. Alan shares why he believes trophy hunting is important & shouldn’t be condemned. He expands on it in regards to Africa, the money and meat goes back to the locals. Alan talks about the points system, elk hunting in specific areas including native lands, private lands. He shares about how well known Apache Tribe’s San Carlos hunts are because of the size of elk which all comes with a price tag. They laugh about situations where hunting guides set up shots for clients & the clients still don’t get it. Elk meat is incredible! Alan touches on endangered species & how species will be endangered in a specific area but not endangered as a whole species. They have a conversation around ethics in hunting. Both of them emphasize how important it is to look beyond face value. Be curious, research. Alan gives a shout out to Jocko’s podcast with Tulsi Gabbard. Journal prompt: Write about your thoughts from the episode- conservation, hunting.
HUGE THANK YOU to the Allyson Band https://allysonband.com/ for the podcast’s music and Brianna Cote http://briannacote.com for photography and cover design.
Podcast & film referenced: Jocko podcast with Tulsi Gabbard https://jockopodcast.com/ Forks over knives https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/
